National parks spark your wonder, joy, and connection. They empower you to take care of your health and well-being as you explore the great outdoors. As the president and CEO of Western National Parks Association (WNPA), I’m proud to be a part of a team that supports more than 70 incredible parks.
Our partner parks offer a wide range of experiences and opportunities.
By celebrating and supporting these park experiences, you become a vital part of the park community.
WNPA’s partner parks work hard to preserve culture, history, and nature. They also provide ways for people to have fun and learn. This helps connect us to the land and teaches us how to care for it. Each time you visit, you explore more of what these parks have to offer.
As a Park Protector your support for WNPA helps connect people with parks. I’m thrilled to know that you’re out there, sharing your experiences and making connections through outdoor and cultural events. These are just a few examples of what your gifts have helped support in our partner parks.
EMPOWERING EDUCATION
Thanks to you, New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Texas’s Padre Island National Seashore visitors enjoyed the recent solar eclipse safely. National parks aren’t just beautiful, they’re also special places where people can come together to discover and learn about the universe.
Your generosity helps WNPA’s partner parks educate and motivate future park enthusiasts.
Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park in Texas participated in the Teacher-Ranger-Teacher program. This program provides valuable training to teachers, and they, in turn, develop curriculum related to important subjects that students can explore in national parks. WNPA helped to fund puppets and plushies to make learning about our precious natural resources engaging, relevant, and accessible.
Your gift allows WNPA to provide aid to parks as they work with teachers to make learning fun and exciting.
EMPOWERING CULTURAL CONNECTIONS
With support from people like you, Arizona’s Montezuma Castle National Monument and Tuzigoot National Monument celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day. These parks preserve the rich and diverse cultures that make the region so unique. Charles Decker of the Yavapai-Apache Nation and Joshua Ballze, representing the Hia-Ced O’odham and Tarahumara Nations of the Southwest, shared their art. Their insights inspired visitors and connected culture and knowledge through art.
EMPOWERING CONSERVATION
Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve protects the beautiful plants and wildlife that call the park home. With your support, WNPA helped finance a 10-year
research study that tracked the seasonal movements of the majestic elk.
It’s thought that there are more than 4,000 elk in the eastern part of the San Luis Valley. Elk in this area tend to favor open grasslands over forests. Thanks to partial funding from WNPA and people like you, a park biologist now has the tools to study the patterns of elk movement. This research will help parks improve decisions that protect the ecosystem.
With your support, parks across the Western United States can better understand the changing landscape and improve on ways to share these findings.
You can help shape the future of park conservation!
EMPOWERING WELLNESS
You can help Saguaro National Park in Arizona continue to offer collectible pins to participants in the “I Hike for Health” program. These pins encourage more people to take part and raise awareness about the park’s many hiking trails.
Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona hosted a Youth Running Camp, thanks to support from people like you. WNPA provided water bottles and daypacks to the participants who hiked to various parts of the canyon. During their hikes, they learned about the park’s history, culture, and tips for staying healthy.
In all, the young runners covered a distance of two to six miles. You can help to support and assist parks to create a secure environment for young people to explore rich history and culture while they enjoy the benefits of physical activity.
We invite you to join us in this vital effort.
Your support empowers parks!
Your generous gift of $75 or more provides you with a tax-deductible opportunity to make a meaningful impact. You can help support scientific research, promote recreational activities, foster community connections, and inspire the next generation of park stewards.
To make your contribution, click below or visit www.wnpa.org/donate.
By supporting WNPA, you are helping to empower parks for all time. Supporters like you help to make this important work possible.